President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during their meeting in US, announced establishing a semiconductor fabrication plant in India. Know more in our UPSC Key. (Photo: AP)🚨 Attention: UPSC Key is now all 7 Days a Week!🚨
Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for September 27, 2024. If you missed the September 26th, 2024 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here.
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UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: GS-II: India and its neighbourhood- relations; and Bilateral, regional, and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
What’s the ongoing story- On the sidelines of the Quad leaders’ summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with United States President Joe Biden on September 21. This might well have been the final tête-à-tête between the two world leaders before Biden leaves the White House in January 2025.
Prerequisites:
— Historical background of the India-US relationship
— Read about the recently concluded QUAD summit
— What is the Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET)?
Key takeaways:
— President Biden inherited a strong India-US relationship from his predecessor Donald Trump. The former president had, for the very first time, framed China as a strategic rival and adversary to the US, and thus aligned Washington and New Delhi’s positions. In this regard, Biden carried Trump’s legacy forward.
— Trump revived the Quad grouping comprising India, the US, Australia, and Japan in 2017. In 2021, Biden elevated the Quad to the leaders’ level, the highest in international diplomacy.
— On January 31, 2023, the two National Security Advisers launched the Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) in Washington to facilitate strategic technology collaborations in critical and emerging technologies…
— PM Modi’s recent visit saw him sign an agreement for setting up a semiconductor fabrication plant in India, which would make chips for use in “national security, next generation telecommunications and green energy applications”.
— The fab will be enabled by support from the India Semiconductor Mission as well as a strategic technology partnership between Bharat Semi, 3rdiTech, and the US Space Force, the joint statement said.
— Beyond the fab, India and the US are working on a broad range technology partnerships, from joint research conducted by NASA and ISRO on the International Space Station, to a pact for critical minerals supply chains and emerging digital technologies in Asia and Africa.
— That said, the headwinds in India-US ties cannot be ignored. Most notably, in recent months, the alleged assassination plot against US-based pro-Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has been a thorny issue.
— India has to address this issue to remove any misgivings in Washington about New Delhi’s democratic credentials. But South Block believes that in the larger scheme of things, the two countries’ strategic alignment vis-à-vis China means that such challenges are only minor wrinkles to be ironed out.
For Your Information:
— When Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Joe Biden announced establishing a semiconductor fabrication plant in India focused on meeting defence and national security needs, two names stood out: Bharat Semi and 3rdiTech.
— From being incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi to securing a place at a prestigious accelerator at the University of California in Berkeley just four years ago, Bharat Semi, and its holding entity 3rdiTech, is an Indian start-up focused on designing chips, especially for military and defence purposes.
Points to Ponder:
— What are the challenges of India’s semiconductor mission?
— What are the challenges in the India-US relationship?
— India-USA collaboration in semiconductor
Post Read Question:
(1) The application of semiconductor covers:
1. Integrated circuit (IC) design
2. Packaging and testing
3. Raw material production
4. Wafer fabrication
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 3 and 4 only
(c) 1 and 2 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
3rdiTech: The chipmaker at the heart of the new India-US compound semiconductor partnership
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: GS-II: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
What’s the ongoing story- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday officially approved a $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan, two months after the agency had reached a staff-level agreement for the same with Islamabad.
Prerequisites:
— What is the International Monetary Fund (IMF)?
— What is the Extended Fund Facility (EFF)?
— What are IMF bailouts?
Key takeaways:
— In July 2023, Pakistan secured a nine-month $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) from the IMF. The country’s interim government worked to ensure the IMF’s conditions of “fiscal discipline, structural reforms and a return to market-determined exchange rate” were met.
— As of September 2024, Pakistan’s inflation rate stands at around 7.5%, its lowest in five years.
— But Pakistan still has an external debt of around $130 billion, of which it will need to pay $ 90 billion over the next three years.
— An EFF is a financial assistance package offered by the IMF to countries facing severe balance of payments issues due to structural weaknesses that cannot be resolved in the short term.
— In theory, it is meant to help the borrowing country implement medium-term structural reforms. In Pakistan’s case, these include bolstering monetary and fiscal policies including tax reforms, strengthening competition, and rebuilding the forex reserves.
— Notably, the package does not include plans to restructure the country’s external and internal debt, which according to Dawn, equalled around 81% of the previous fiscal year’s tax revenues.
For Your Information:
— The IMF lends money to the economies in peril in the form of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), which is a basket of five currencies — US dollar, Euro, Chinese Yuan, Japanese Yen and British Pound. It can be executed in the form of loans, cash, bonds, or stock purchases.
— Among the conditions laid down for a country seeking financial assistance from the IMF could be certain structural reforms, such as fiscal transparency, tax reforms and reforms in state-owned enterprises. Critics say these reforms can be tough on the public and may be driven by geopolitical influence, since they are often decided by officials of various countries.
Points to Ponder:
— Read about- the formation of IMF, the role of India, criticism and reforms
— How IMF has supported Pakistan and Sri Lanka?
— What are Special Drawing Rights?
Post Read Question:
(2) “Rapid Financing Instrument” and “Rapid Credit Facility” are related to the provisions of lending by which one of the following? (UPSC CSE 2022)
(a) Asian Development Bank
(b) International Monetary Fund
(c) United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative
(d) World Bank
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
What is an IMF bailout, when is it provided to a country, and what are the lending conditions?
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: GS-II, III: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation; and Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
What’s the ongoing story- Three new supercomputers, installed at premier scientific institutions in Delhi, Pune and Kolkata, to boost research in the fields of astronomy, medicine and high-energy physics, were on Thursday dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Prerequisites:
— What are supercomputers?
— What is the High-Power Computing (HPC) system?
— What is the National Supercomputing Mission?
Key takeaways:
— In addition, the computing power available for weather and climate research has been significantly upgraded by the setting up of High-Power Computing (HPC) systems the two atmospheric sciences institutes, one in Pune and the other in Noida, which already have a supercomputer each.
— The two HPC systems dedicated for climate sciences are worth `850 crore. Together, they have elevated the computing capacity available with the Ministry of Earth Sciences from 6.8 Peta Flop five years ago to a total of 22 Peta Flops, the highest ever by far.
— The three new supercomputers are all indigenously-built PARAM Rudra computers, developed under the National Supercomputing Mission, at a combined cost of about Rs 130 crores.
— One of them has been installed at Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) near Pune, which is one of the world’s largest and most powerful radio telescopes in the meter-wave range. — The other two have been set up in Delhi-based Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), and the S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences in Kolkata. Both these institutions engage in high-energy physics research.
For Your Information:
— The National Supercomputing Mission intends to indigenise developing and manufacturing powerful computers.
— Petaflops is a measure of computing capability of adding at least a quadrillion (1,000 trillion) real numbers in a second. That computer speed is equivalent to 5,000-6,000 high-end laptops working together.
— Japan is preparing to construct a groundbreaking supercomputer, projected to be 1,000 times faster than today’s most advanced machines.
— Expected to cost more than $750 million and set to go live by 2030, this “zeta-class” supercomputer will mark a new era in computing power. Development of the machine, known as “Fugaku Next,” will begin in 2025, led by Japanese firms RIKEN and Fujitsu, according to Live Science.
Points to Ponder:
— What is the objective of the National Computing Mission?
— What are the various applications of the Supercomputer?
— What are the challenges of the National Computing Mission?
— What is the Floating-Point Operations per Second (FLOPs)?
Post Read Question:
(3) Which of the following is India’s First Supercomputer?
(a) PARAM 8000
(b) PARA 10000
(c) PARAM Shivay
(d) Pratyush
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
India will unveil 18 new petaFLOP supercomputers for weather forecasting in 2023
Japan to build ‘Zeta-class’ Supercomputer, set to be 1,000 times faster than current models
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: GS-III: Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money-laundering and its prevention.
What’s the ongoing story- Prabhash Ranjan writes: The debate on Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) into India oscillates between economic benefits and security risks. But, a key fundamental question beyond that remains unanswered. Does India have a comprehensive legislative framework to deal with FDI and international trade on grounds of national security? The answer is negative.
Prerequisites:
— What is a Press Note 3 (PN3)?
— What is the Model Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT)?
— What is the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)?
— What is the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)?
Key takeaways:
— It is important to recall that in April 2020, India adopted a new FDI regulation called Press Note 3 (PN3).
— PN3 is enforced through the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) — a law that provides the architecture for the orderly development and maintenance of the foreign exchange market in India.
— PN3 subjects inward investments from land-bordering countries to prior approval of the central government (the so-called government route). While many countries share land borders with India, this regulation aimed to curb Chinese FDI into India.
— FEMA does not contain explicit provisions to deal with FDI on national security grounds. This is not surprising because national security in the military sense is not directly linked to managing foreign exchange.
— The legal vacuum in India on this point is not restricted to foreign investment. It extends to international trade. Immediately after the Pulwama terror attack in February 2019, India denounced its most favoured nation obligation under the World Trade Organisation towards Pakistan and increased customs duties on all Pakistani imports to 200 per cent.
— Like FEMA, the Customs Tariff Act doubled up as a national security instrument in this case. The absence of a specified domestic law to deal with FDI and international trade on security grounds makes New Delhi vulnerable if India’s measures are challenged at international courts and tribunals.
For Your Information:
— India regulates foreign investments primarily through FEMA. The preamble to FEMA clearly provides two specific macro-prudential objectives — facilitating external trade and payments; and promoting orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange markets in India.
— Accordingly, it empowers the central government and the RBI, acting in consultation with each other, to regulate capital account transactions. These regulations determine who can invest through the FDI route, in which sector and how much.
Points to Ponder:
— What are the national security threats associated with the FDI?
— Why does India need a specific law to deal with security threats from FDI and international trade?
— How is FDI regulated in India?
— What is the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA)?
Post Read Question:
(4) Consider the following: (UPSC CSE 2021)
1. Foreign currency convertible bonds
2. Foreign institutional investment with certain conditions
3. Global depository receipts
4. Non-resident external deposits
Which of the above can be included in Foreign Direct Investments?
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 2 and 4 only
(d) 1 and 4 only
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
India needs national security screening of FDI
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: GS-I: Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India
What’s the ongoing story- The death of a 26-year-old in Pune, allegedly due to work stress, has sparked controversy. A teacher and a corporate executive write to the young on how to navigate today’s work place.
Prerequisites:
— What is work-life balance?
— How working culture has changed in India?
Key takeaways:
Imagine the world beyond your office
— Avijit Pathak writes a letter: Dear young friend, I am writing this letter because I value your innate possibilities, your creative energy, and your urge to earn your livelihood through meaningful and life-affirming work.
— Forgive me, as I urge you to ask three questions: What is meaningful and life-affirming work? What is “productivity”? And what is “success”? Quite often, the work we do — even when it’s “prestigious” — does not fulfill us.
— Neither money nor glamour can heal the pain of fatigue, boredom and meaninglessness. Think of it. Possibly, it becomes exceedingly difficult for your role models to escape from this alienated work because the seduction of consumerism has already trapped them.
— I am only urging you to sharpen your intelligence and wisdom to distinguish your true needs from the baggage of market-induced artificial ones.
(Thought Process: Consider this letter from a broader perspective to enhance your understanding of work culture and substantiate your Essay and GS paper. The tragic death of Anna Sebastian Perayil can be used as an example in your answer to illustrate the challenges of modern corporate life.)
Draw red lines your boss cannot cross
— Pallavi Jha writes: The reason companies are increasingly callous in their workforce management is that India has a huge jobs crisis; the excess supply makes the negotiating room lopsided. But that does not mean that companies can ignore the cardinal rules of engagement. I think this is the perfect time for constructive employee activism; India’s young deserve a voice in office environments or culture audits.
— The highest intangible cost that no one measures is the mental health toll on the employees of a poisonous office space; you will spend the best years of your life working, and thus, cannot afford to compromise here.
— The corporate brand may look prepossessing from the outside, but what matters for you is what is going on within. Periodically ask yourself: Is it worth it?
— What matters most is that you should feel respected, there should be a red line your boss cannot cross without your explicit permission, your holidays should be sacrosanct, and your values should never be up for a trade-off. If your conscience says “no”, just quit (companies bleed when attrition rises). It will be the best thing you will have done.
For Your Information:
— At a time when countries like the UK and Germany are piloting the four-day workweek, we are still working some of the longest hours in the world.
— According to ILO data, Indians work an average of 48-50 hours a week, compared to the global average of 34-36 hours. (And if you’re a woman in India, you have another six hours of unpaid labour to look forward to on top of this, compared to men’s one hour.)
— Only last month, an amendment was proposed to the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act that increased the maximum length of the workday from the previously mandated 10 to 14 hours — a dystopian length that’s currently being protested by exhausted IT workers in Bengaluru.
— We are burnt out — India ranks among the highest globally for mental burnout at 59 per cent, compared to the global average of 20 per cent, according to a McKinsey Health Institute report.
(Thought Process: The data and reports are meant to substantiate your Mains answer writing.)
Points to Ponder:
— What are the challenges of the new corporate world working?
— Role of stakeholders- Civic society, Government, Corporates, Employers and Employees
Post Read Question:
Explore and evaluate the impact of ‘Work From Home’ on family relationships. (UPSC CSE 2022)
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
Hustle culture and over-work thrive in India because we let it
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues
Mains Examination: GS-II: Constitution of India —historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
What’s the ongoing story- Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said Thursday that the Constitution continues to be relevant because it is sensitive to the changing needs of its constituents.
Prerequisites:
— What is the doctrine of living document?
— How Indian constitution is a living document?
— What is a flexible and rigid constitution?
Key takeaways:
— The CJI said that unlike India which follows the doctrine of a living constitution, the US goes by originalism which at its core, posits that the Constitution’s meaning is fixed and should be interpreted based on its original understanding at the time of its adoption, giving primacy to the purported intent of the framers.
— This was visible in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organisation, wherein the US Supreme Court “employed an originalist approach in concluding that the right to abortion is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution and, therefore, not protected”.
— The CJI said, “No two generations are reading the Constitution in the same social, legal or economic context… As society evolves, so must the constitutional doctrine. The institutions which the Constitution has created must adapt flexibly to meet the challenges in a rapidly growing knowledge economy”.
For Your Information:
— Ambedkar was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution of India, which was adopted on this day in 1949 and came into effect on January 26, 1950.
— Ambedkar also remarked, “Constitution is not a mere lawyers’ document, it is a vehicle of Life, and its spirit is always the spirit of Age.”
— Our Constitution, as Granville Austin argues, is a social document. And through the years, it hasn’t merely existed as a legal structure but has operated as an organic instrument of governance and social change.
Points to Ponder:
— What is the difference between a simple majority and a special majority?
— What are the provisions for the amendment of the constitution?
— Compare and contrast the constitutions of India and USA.
Post Read Question:
Discuss India as a secular state and compare with the secular principles of the US constitution. (UPSC CSE 2024)
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
The missing story in the making of the Constitution: How the founding women made it a just document
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